All Work, No Play
by Colly's Enny
Summary: Even the most exciting jobs can get boring. But not for long.


Title: All Work, No Play Author: Amelie Vaughn Rating: PG-13 for a gruesome image Summary: Sydney hunts down "The List," and finds something she wasn't looking for Disclaimer: Sydney, Sark, Vaughn, and all the other wonderful characters portrayed in this work of fiction do not belong to me. They do, however, belong to J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot and Touchstone. If you, J.J. are reading this, feel free to give me the rights to them. Or at least invite me to the set. Note: This is the third installment in what I like to call The Sark Years. If you haven't been following it, you can either go back to the beginning, Q & A & Q or catch up with Buy and Cell. Or you could just read it I guess. But I would go back and read the first two. They are only 3 pages long. And if you are still reading this you have proven that you like to read, so you have no excuse! Thanks: Many thanks to Alias Boards for the fun and friendships I have made over the year. Thanks to David Anders, the source of my initiative to write. To the members of the unofficial David Anders Fan Club, for getting me hooked on the stuff. Feedback: Help me get better, please! I love criticism and enjoy writing your ideas down. You can email me at amelievaughn@aol.com  
  
The mouths of the envious Always find another door While at the gates of paradise hey beat us down some more But our mission's set in stone 'Cause the writing's on the wall I'll scream it from the mountain tops pride comes before a fall  
  
I'm just a freedom fighter No remorse Raging on in holy war Soon there'll come a day When you're face to face with me  
  
Can't you hear us coming? People marching all around Can't you see we're coming? Close your eyes it's over now Can't you hear us coming? The fight has only just begun  
-Creed, Freedom Fighter  
  
"Good Morning. All of you are assembled here today because we've got some work to do." Kendall paused and checked the room for absentees. "Now you know by now that Agent Bristow has obtained some extremely confidential data concerning the new Alliance. The names on this list must be tracked down one by one within the next 36 hours. We have not a second for error. Now we have put you into groups based on your tactical experiences. These groups will be deployed into different areas around the globe. Your mission is to knock out the bad guys in your area as quickly as possible without drawing a scene and get them back here where they will join Mr. Sark in our gratuitous accommodations. Any questions? All right. Agent Bristow? I need to speak with you. Both of you."  
  
Jack already knew what this was about. He had just arrived back from Haiti, and a meeting with Sloane. "Sydney, your mission is simple. Use the intel we have to determine Irina Dereko's location. We must find her before Sloane. You will have access to any and all resources we have. Agent Weiss will also be helping you. Now Jack, we read you debrief on yesterday's encounter. We want you to get as far into the Alliance as possible. Sloane will try as hard as he can to get this up and running, and we believe he really wants you in there. He might even have a blind spot when it comes to you. If you can make it into the final 12, we will be behind you 100%. Wheel and deal with him if you have to. We will try to make it as easy as possible for you to leave us to go to the dark side." Kendall smiled at his little joke. "But remember, truth is his only ally right now. The world as he knows it does not exist. At least after the next 36 hours." Kendall braced himself for the conclusion. "Our agents are going to come after you tomorrow and stage an all-out fight. You will escape with minor injuries. You will run to Sloane, and ask him to protect you. Gain his trust. And then we will strike. Marshall will brief you on the rest." Kendall could not help but burst out laughing as he shook his head and walked down the hall.  
  
- - "So I'm going back to Korea." Vaughn said. He had just gone over the brief for the mission. "Mission Gigantica," he liked to call it. If everything went according to plan, they would have Sloane up a creek with out his floaties. "You know, if not for the criminal activity there, it would be a nice place."  
  
Sydney emerged from the bathroom, drying off her long, brown hair. "What criminal activity? If you didn't know about the drug lords and slave traders and weapons dealers, it would be ok."  
  
"I think we got the pick of the litter." Vaughn added, glancing down at the list of names and addresses. "We not only get to find 14 of these guys, we get to find numbers 1, 2 and 3!"  
  
Sydney pulled on a flowery top with cap sleeves. It wasn't one of her favorites, but it would have to do. "Salvador Muertes, international hit man, drug dealer, and pedophile. The one man other than Sloane I would love to nail to a tree and set fire. And I am going to be stuck here."  
  
"Unfortunately, Kendall wants him back.just like the rest of them." Vaughn sighed. "Maybe you will have the pleasure of torturing him for information?"  
  
"Am I ever that lucky?"  
  
- - "Now Jack, Kendall has asked me to brief you." Marshall burst into a fit of giggles. "Get it? Brief you? No? Well you will in a moment. Keep your panties on." He flat out could not control himself. "Excuse me, I'm okay. Okay, okay. Let's see what the Marshallnator has got for you. You like that? Marshallnator? I came up with it all by myself. What we have here is an eight days supply of underwear. You know, so you can wear a clean one everyday of the week and have a day to wash them all? It's a system I came up with. Anyways, you remember all too fondly Victoria's Secret from your last mission. I have fiddled and fiddled with these and I think that I've got it. The optics on these babies are so thin, they can be washed and washed and washed, and we still get it in like satellite, while keeping Victoria's Secret your secret. Sloane will never even know about it." Marshall handed Jack a bag. "Happy trails to you, partner." - -  
  
Sydney grew tired of the tedious task at hand. Even with the ever-cordial Weiss at her side, she couldn't help but feel bored. And when Sydney Bristow got bored, she got sloppy. Weiss was looking over Irina's past statements to the CIA and analyzing them thoroughly. She pulled a box of Irina's stuff to her side and started to go through it. She came across her earrings, the ones which were given to Sydney by her mother. They had produced a morse code somehow, telling her "Time Will Tell." Sydney's only thought was that time had come and gone, and she still didn't know her mother's loyalties. Beneath the earrings was the cover to the Rambaldi manuscript that the CIA had trusted Irina to use to lure Sloane in, instead, she emptied it and left it full of sticky notes. Sydney opened it up. There they were, in every shade imaginable. She began lifting them up, and taking them out, looking for any sign of communication. She didn't find anything but the back cover. Her fingers drifted over the smooth, worn leather, until she hit a rough patch. Sydney looked closer. She had just found a flap! She reached in and pulled out a small, folded up piece of parchment. "Weiss, I think we may have something." - - Vaughn was ready to go. The plane had touched down 5 minutes ago, and he was eager to get Muertes more than anyone. The team assembled and ready to go, took off toward Muertes' compound. Upon arriving, Vaughn was to play the part of a druggie needing a really bad fix. Muertes wouldn't turn down a sale like that. The team would follow them in, and attack, capturing Muertes and fleeing the scene without making any disturbances. Here we go, Vaughn thought. Just think of Sydney back home. She would love to be in your shoes right about now. He knocked on the front door. Muertes' compound was hidden in such a way that if you we ever able to find it, you wouldn't have much security to get by. He pressed the buzzer. "Hello?"  
  
"You look pretty lost there, buddy. What do you need?" The voice on the other end was surely not Muertes, he would never sink to that kind of job.  
  
"I was hoping someone could give me some good directions. I haven't been there in a long time, and I need some help." Vaughn hated talking in code. He felt so stupid. Thank God he didn't have a record, but he had picked up the lingo from a couple of his friends back in high school.  
  
"There should be someone here who can help you." The door swung open. "Up the stairs, first door on the left."  
  
Vaughn entered the mansion. Paintings of every size and shape decorated the main entrance. A huge chandelier welcomed him into the house. The stairs curled around greeting him at his right. He started up the stairs. Reaching the top, he took a look around. There was a large study on the left. Vaughn entered, sending the signal to the team to go ahead and come. What he saw numbed him. There on the floor, surrounded by a pool of what appeared to be his own blood, was Salvador Muertes. Or what he assumed was Salvador. Someone had beheaded him, and walked off with the prize. But no one else knew where he lived! Thoughts rushed through his head. "Kendall, we have a problem." He announced with defeat. - - "Jack, I have another small project for you." Kendall said, just getting off the com with Vaughn. "It appears that Mr. Sark sold the list to more than just us. We have assassins dropping like flies. Attacked in the places they considered safe. All before we were able to reach them. We don't believe that this puts you in any immediate danger, but we need for you to found out who, if anyone, had been given access to this list, via Sark or Sloane."  
  
Jack nodded. "I will get right on it." He was planning on talking to that ferret anyways. Now he just had more fuel for the fire. He walked down towards Sark's cell, memories of Irina flooding his brain. "Mr. Sark, did you willingly give anyone besides the CIA access to the list that you provided us with as part of your terms with the CIA and your surrender?"  
  
Sark looked confused. "No, I handed it straight over to you within the 48 hours of my possession of it. What is this about may I ask?"  
  
"Do you know of anyone besides Sloane that would have had access to it?" Jack asked, relentlessly trying to stay on track.  
  
"Well, it was on his computer," Sark said, weighing his words. "Anyone could have hacked into it. Anyone with half a brain. Which is why I was surprised when the CIA had no knowledge of it."  
  
"As of right now, assassins we wanted to question are being murdered globally. All according to that list. Are you saying you had nothing to do with this? Measure your words, Mr. Sark. If we find you are lying to us, you will be executed immediately according to the terms in which you yourself signed."  
  
Sark's eyes went stony blue. Why did I sign that? Of course. Because if I didn't, it would incriminate me. And Sydney was watching you the whole time. "I give you my word that I had nothing to do with the distribution of the list that I handed over in accordance to the terms of my surrender." - - Sydney was trying to figure out the code on the sheet of paper. No doubt it was the work of Milo Rambaldi. Letters and numbers scattered the page, with nothing to tie them together. Weiss was on his lunch break, so he was of no help. She placed the paper down. Reaching over for her cell phone, she knocked over her paper clip holder. Something on the paper stood out. Sydney picked up the holder and began to wave it across the parchment. Why didn't I think of it before? The paper is magnetized! It began to reveal a map of somewhere. As she brought the magnet to the top of the page, Sydney resisted the urge to call out. She had just found what may be the most important link to Rambaldi. Page 10, she read. Turkey's hide away. 


End file.
